Golf’s French Open is an event on the European Tour that is played each year. Officially known as the Open de France, the tournament is the oldest national open in Europe outside of the UK’s British Open Championship, having been inaugurated in 1906. Find out more in our detailed guide below!
- Tournament Structure for the Open de France
- Open de France Betting Tips & Predictions 2023
- 5 Reasons to Bet on the Open de France
- Best Betting Sites for Open de France Livestreaming
- Popular Open de France Betting Markets
- History of the Open de France
- Similar Tournaments to Open de France
- Open de France Betting FAQs
- ThePuntersPage Final Say
Tournament Structure for the Open de France
Although it wasn’t always the case, the Open de France has taken place at Le Golf National near Paris since 1991, with the exception of two years, forming part of the European Tour and the Race To Dubai. This means that the winner will receive points towards the Race To Dubai leaderboard.
At the end of the season, the top 60 players on the final leaderboard will take part in a tournament on the Jumeirah Golf Estate in Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship, which is not only the final event of the Tour, but also the richest. The players are also playing for a prize pool of around €3 million.
As is the norm for most golf tournaments of its kind, the first day’s play will take place on a Thursday with a further round of 18 holes being played on each of the subsequent four days until a winner is found on Sunday. Because this is a stroke play event, the whoever accumulates the highest below-par score in the field will be crowned the champion. After two days' of play, a cut is used to slice the field in half and determine which players will carry on competing over the weekend’s final two rounds of play.
If more than one player has a tied score, playoffs are employed through which a winner is determined.
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Open de France Betting Tips & Predictions 2023
The 2022 Open de France golf tournament will take place at Le Golf National, the same venue that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup. Play starts on Thursday, 22nd September and continuing through to Sunday 25th.
The tournament also forms part of the Race To Dubai, which replaced the Order of Merit in 2009 and is basically the European Tour’s equivalent of the FedEx Cup. It is a season-long award based on points accumulation over the entire year. These points are awarded on performance, and at the end of the season, the top seven players receive a slice of that year’s prize money. The name refers to the fact that the European Tour culminates in the DP World Tour Championship, reserved for the 60 highest point holders for that season.
Open de France Betting Odds
Here's our list of suggested bookies who are offering the best French Open winner odds for each of the top players in the field (last updated – 23/09/2022).
| Player | Odds | Bookmaker |
|---|---|---|
| Rasmus Hojgaard | 8/13 | William Hill |
| Thomas Pieters | 16/1 | bet365 |
| Alexander Bjork | 18/1 | BetVictor |
| Antoine Rozner | 18/1 | Paddy Power |
| Robert McIntyre | 28/1 | Unibet |
| Jordan Smith | 35/1 | William Hill |
| Paul Barjon | 40/1 | 10bet |
| Jamie Donaldson | 45/1 | bet365 |
| James Morrison | 45/1 | Unibet |
| Victor Perez | 50/1 | bet365 |
Open de France Betting Tips & Predictions 2022
This year’s event is looking very interesting, with no clear favourite being pinpointed by the bookies from early on.
LIV Golfer Patrick Reed leads the betting following his fifth-place finish at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth two weeks ago. Even though the tournament got shortened to 54 holes, that was his highest finish this year and, deflecting to the new league as he is, he will be keen to bank some much-needed world ranking points. This is a tournament Reed hasn’t yet taken part in, so last Wednesday was his tournament debut. He has, however, played the course before when he featured as part of the USA's losing Ryder Cup team back in 2018.
World-number-34 Thomas Pieters is the highest-ranked golfer in the field, and looks to have been backed by the bookies to lead the charge for the European players. While the Belgian has enjoyed a couple of wins this season, he is still to record a top 10 finish at the Open De France. All of that in six appearances.
Following his hard-fought win over Matthew Fitzpatrick at last week’s Italian Open, Robert MacIntyre is available for around 20/1 - surely one to keep your eye on.
The young Dane, Rasmus Hojgaard, may have faded of late, but has not been playing that poorly either. So far in 2022, he has been in three top 10s, while at Wentworth earlier this month, he tied for 18th place.
Anyone looking for a local challenger would be well-advised to consider the merits of Victor Perez. He finished third at last week’s Italian Open, heading into the Open de France in good shape, fine form, and full of confidence.
The 30-year-old also picked up the Dutch Open at the end of May and backed up that with a third-place finish at the European Open. Three years ago, the Frenchman was ranked as the best player between tee and green at the Le Golf National. Therefore, we know that he has the ball-striking quality to make light work of the course. Be warned, though - Thomas Levet is the only French winner of this tournament since 2005.
Our final pick is England’s Matthew Southgate, who tied for fifth in his most recent participation at Le Golf National in 2018. He has been playing very nicely in recent weeks, enjoying a solid European Masters, which in turn included good opening and closing rounds. He is a brilliant hitter off the tee, and he is well-known to love the look and feel of this course - something that always helps. Recent quality performances in Denmark and Italy have been sandwiched in between a 13th at the BMW PGA Championship, and it’s his good form in Surrey that punters can find most encouraging.
Open de France Betting Promotions
- Ladbrokes, who run a ton of golf betting specials, also provide newcomers with a welcome offer of £20 in free bets in return for a simple £5 wager on the Open de France.
- Alternatively, why not take advantage of William Hill’s bet £10, get £30 offer and use that free £30 to place a bet on this great golf tournament?
5 Reasons to Bet on the Open de France
- It makes up a critical leg of the Race To Dubai.
- Some leading members of the PGA should be in attendance.
- It’s a great event for Europe’s best talent.
- It is continental Europe’s oldest open golf national event.
- This could provide pointers for the Ryder Cup.
Best Betting Sites for Open de France Livestreaming
- bet365
- William Hill
- 888sport
- Paddy Power
- Betfred
Popular Open de France Betting Markets
Sports betting doesn’t get much better than golf, and the reason we say that is because the fields of competitors are always so huge that the odds generally always offer significant value. Even world number ones and obvious favourites are likely to start at no less than 8/1. Also, because of the nature of the game, there are loads of different markets to exploit.
Outright Tournament Winner Betting
The most straightforward wager that there is, and ever will be. This simply means to put down a wager on the player that you believe will win the tournament. The odds that you can see at your chosen online bookmaker will give you an idea of a) your player’s likelihood of success and b) how much you can win if your golfer does indeed go on to win the tournament outright.
Round One Leader Betting
On each day of the tournament, all competing players must play a full round of golf, which involves 18 holes. On any of those days, you can bet on the player that will be sitting on the top of the leaderboard by the close of that day’s play. This particular bet references the first day of the French Open, but any day will do – as your pick finishes as that day’s leader, you’ll receive a winner’s payout.
Winning Nationality
A bet on the winning nationality allows you to bet on the tourney’s winner, but also leaves a little wriggle room for other nationals to help you make a winning payout. Of course, if there are a number of the same nationals playing in the tournament, the odds will shorten on that nation’s chances of success.
So, if you are backing a golfer from the UK and there are more UK-based players in the field than there are other nationalities, then the odds will be lower than, say, for an Irish national, because it is quite likely that Ireland will have fewer entrants.
This being a French event, there will be a strong chance of a local winner. You can also bet on the winner’s continent, but this often works better on the PGA, where even more players come from further afield.
Top Ten Finish Betting
There will be over 100 golfers teeing off on Thursday’s opening day, with this bet requiring you to nominate a golfer or golfers who you think will finish in the top 10. This bet can also work with top five and top 20 finishing players.
Note that this is not the same thing as an each-way bet. With the latter, you “insure” your outright bet a little bit by doubling – or halving – your stake in order to create two wagers for one bet. As a result, you have backed a player to win, but also to place, i.e. finish among the top few places. The number of paid places will often depend on the bookie you bet with, as many different betting sites will, by way of promotion, offer varying amounts of places per tourney that they will pay out on.
Miss the Cut Betting
Because golf tournaments have such high fields of competitors, they use what is known as a cut to trim the field roughly in half at the tourney’s half-way point. Golf events typically last four days – Thursday through Sunday – which is why a cut is introduced after day two, the Friday.
The idea is that the cut will eliminate the stragglers from those doing well. Those that make the cut will continue to play in the competition over the weekend. This creates a fun betting opportunity where you can bet on a player to miss the cut. It stands to reason that the better the player, the more likely they are to make the cut – so if they miss it, which is actually pretty common, the higher the odds will be.
The reverse is true for making the cut at the French Open betting, another fantastic betting opportunity.
History of the Open de France
The Open de France has been part of the European Tour since the tour was launched in 1972. It also is the oldest national golf open in Europe outside of the UK and was inaugurated in 1906. The Open Championship, one of modern golf’s four majors, is the oldest in Europe, having been founded in 1860.
Golf had already been popularised in France by the British, who were living there from around halfway through the 19th century as evidenced by the founding of the le Pau Golf Club in 1856. Around the turn of the 20th century, the Golf de Paris directors, inspired by the Open Championship in the UK, decided to create a French equivalent. On the 30th of June and the 1st of July 1906, Pierre Deschamps, the Golf de Paris president, organised the Omnium Grand Championship on the grounds of La Boulie.
Today run by the Fédération Française de Golf (French Golf Federation), the Open de France is held at Le Golf National. Prior to 1991, the tournament had no fixed venue, and had been hosted by the French cities of Le Touquet, Dieppe, Deauville, Biarritz, Lyon, and Chantilly, among other venues. Since moving to Le Golf National, it has been held there every year except 1999 and 2001, when it was moved to Medoc and Lyon respectively.
From 2004 onwards, qualification routes, similar to those employed by the Open Championship and the US Masters, were introduced. In 2021, the tournament had its first ever host in Grégory Havret, who became the first in the illustrious history of the event.
| Year | Winning Player | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2020 | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2019 | Nicolas Colsaerts | Belgium |
| 2018 | Alex Norén | Sweden |
| 2017 | Tommy Fleetwood | England |
| 2016 | Thongchai Jaidee | Thailand |
| 2015 | Bernd Wiesberger | Austria |
| 2014 | Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland |
| 2013 | Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland |
| 2012 | Marcel Siem | Germany |
| 2011 | Thomas Levet | France |
Open de France Key Stats
- In 1971, the tournament’s record score was set when Lu Liang-Huan shot 262.
- In 2002, Marten Olander shot 8 birdies in a row, the most birdies in succession in a round.
- The most strokes ever played on one hole in this event was 20, hit by Philippe Porquier in 1978.
- In 2019, the prize money was €1.6 million, but this has increased to €3,000,000 for the 2022 event.
Similar Tournaments to Open de France
- 29th September – 2nd October 2022, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship: A Scottish based pro-am tournament that is played part individual and part team.
- 13th – 16th October 2022, Andalucía Masters: Played at the Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande in the south of Spain, this tournament is one of the most popular on the DP World Tour.
- 17th – 20th November 2022, DP World Tour Championship: The final leg of the tour’s Race to Dubai, which takes place annually at the Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course in Dubai itself.
Open de France Betting FAQs
We are happy to say that the best bookies for Open de France betting are bet365, Paddy Power, and William Hill.
Sky Sport is the place for watching golf in the UK, and that includes the French Open.
The Open de France is held each year in September.
The Open de France takes place at Le Golf National.
The course par for this tourney is 71.
The 2022 Open de France prize money is €3 million.
ThePuntersPage Final Say
One of the highlights of the European Tour, not to mention one of the oldest, the French Open golf tournament is held at Le Golf National every year, assembling the best golfers in Europe and many more from the US, the Americas, and Asia.
It also distributes points towards the Race To Dubai where, at the end of the season, the highest-ranked 110 players are rewarded for their performance by qualifying for the following season.
Le Golf National always plays a crucial role in determining who these players will be. As such, and in its own right, few stops along the way are as prestigious as the Open de France, where the golf action is only ever fierce.